This artist folds a different origami paper crane daily, for 1,000 days

The act of folding origami -- creating paper-based forms using folding and sculpting techniques -- can be meditative as well as a daily creative outlet. For Cristian Marianciuc, an artist based out of Taunton, United Kingdom, the act of folding one unique paper crane for the last 1,000 days has resulted in a bounty of incredible forms that vary in many wonderful ways.

Marianciuc, who started the one-crane-a-day project on January 1, 2015, explained at the time that:

I decided to start a different kind of diary at the beginning of this year. Everyday, I fold an origami crane and using it as a blank canvas, I describe my day through colours, shadows and everything that surrounds me. It has helped my creativity a great deal, and it has also become somewhat of a daily ritual.

Marianciuc has now been folding a different bird daily for almost three years, even though he had intended continuing it for only a year. Thank goodness he hasn't stopped; his dedicated efforts have given birth to some never-before-seen rarities such as these -- gloriously multicoloured, or richly feathered and adorned with flowers.

There have been days when I knew for sure that the most appropriate crane would be a plain, undecorated one. It’s not because I have run out of ideas…definitely not that! But don’t you find that sometimes silence and simplicity speak so much louder than noise and abundance? And of course, none of these latter things are bad or less valuable than the former.

Witnessing the gradual evolution of beauty of these diverse birds -- to sometimes circle back to that original blank slate -- is a pretty profound one. To see more, visit Cristian Marianciuc's Instagram and Etsy.